Chief Cachopa's trial to start Monday

More than two and a half years after the indictments came down, the trial of Police Chief Manuel Cachopa is scheduled to begin Monday at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.

Jeff Mucciarone

More than two and a half years after the indictments came down, the trial of Police Chief Manuel Cachopa is scheduled to begin Monday at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.

Cachopa is charged with covering up the actions of one his former officers. He was indicted in March 2005, as were Officer Robert Letendre and former Sgt. David Cohen.

“It’s extremely important for the town to have full confidence in its police department,” said Town Manager Mark Stankiewicz. “It’s one of the lynchpins for public safety.”

In July, Cohen was convicted of two counts of witness intimidation, one count of attempted extortion and one count of filing a false report. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half to three years in prison, though he is appealing the convictions. Cohen was also found not guilty of two counts of kidnapping, two counts of assault and battery and one count of having a conflict of interest.

Letendre was found not guilty of being an accessory after the fact and of filing a false report.

Selectmen, which have appointing authority over the police chief, placed Cachopa on paid administrative leave in March 2005. He makes $139,000 per year, not including benefits.

The cover-up allegations Cachopa is facing stem from Cohen’s interactions in April 2002 with former local businessman Timothy Hills.

Cohen, who worked as a police officer at night and as an attorney during the day, met with Hills several times in attempts to reconcile money Hills owed to one of Cohen's clients. Cohen allegedly threatened Hills with arrest if he did not refund his client the $10,000 he owed him.

In one count of intimidating a witness, Cohen allegedly attempted to get confidential account information about Hills from a teller at a Citizens' Bank in Stoughton. In the second charge, Cohen allegedly intimidated one of Hills's employees into making a statement in his favor.

The prosecution alleged, in a separate incident, that Cohen improperly arrested a salesman at the Stoughton Motor Mart for not returning a customer's deposit, though he was found not guilty on the related charges.

Initially, Cachopa was expected to stand trial alongside Cohen and Letendre but he was eventually granted a separate trial.